Who is the "employer" of Mom's caregivers? My mother or me?

It is her money, and as her guardian you are acting on her behalf. Think of her as the company and yourself as her humble functionary, if you will.

Agree. Your mother.

Im assuming your are looking at a employer type deduction.

However, a good accountant can find all sorts of deductions to claim and hopefully get enough “medical” expenses added up to qualify for this deduction. As the medical deduction is based from a percentage of income - it sometimes can be a tough one to achieve.

I did experience some frustration with my mother being considered the employer rather than myself. I handled all the money, bills, contact and communication with the home care agency - but as far as the caregiver was concerned - mom was the boss. I guess... technically so.

Still - when my mother had her big fall - The Game Changer - as I call it, all sorts of issues came to light. Things that I feel I should have been told so I could have made arrangements for a higher level of care.

Which, I suspose was my mothers fear as she instructed the caregiver not to tell me about several specific instances- things that screamed “more care”. But there I was - thinking that with the caregivers help, mom was “managing”.

Yeah, right.

Sorry for the aside rant - residual frustrations!

My sister who is POA got our father an EIN. He is the employer. She got a payroll company to pay the employees. She set up workers comp for them too. They are actual employees. Most of them want to be paid under the table, however we want everything to be legal.

I suggest the payroll company BeneftMall PayFocus. They are awesome. I have them do the paperwork for my small business. They bend over backwards to help.

The payroll company takes out taxes and files all the paperwork, which simplifies matters. Her payroll company was difficult to deal with.

Be careful be about over time if you have limited funds because it will eat up the savings.

Employees are more expensive than Independent Contractors, but it makes it all legal.

I assume it would be your Mom's social security number if she is paying for the employees.

I remember when my Dad had caregivers, his CPA was able to claim the amount for his care at home. But I had gone through an Agency, so the Agency took care of the payroll, taxes, W-2 [1099's], etc. One can hire a "payroll service" to do this for you, but there would be a cost for Mom.

One thing to remember, if Mom hires self-employed [independent contractors] as caregivers, Mom would need to obtain a workman's comp policy through her homeowner's insurance carrier. The workman comp policy helps cover the caregiver should the caregiver gets hurt on the job.

She's paying, she's the employer. You're just acting on her behalf (as POA).

Thank you! Can you tell me what the deciding factor is? I.e., is it because it's her money?

Your mother.
Hopefully you are already POA. No cash, all checks for everything, or debit card (for excellent record-keeping).
I went to an elder lawyer for advice. We ended up setting up a trust (I was already POA).
Everything is very simple and straight-forward now, and I don't have to concern myself with probate later on.
Each state is different, check in with an elder attorney.

All the best to you and mom!!

You are in charge, You are the Guardian, Take everything down to the Tax people and get some advice.

I am legal conservator and guardian of my incompetent mother. In my case, I would be the employer. If you do not have this legal designation, then your mother would be the employer. However, I would speak with an accountant.

I would say your Mother is the employer. You are acting on her behalf.
But this is something that you should ask a tax preparer, CPA or if you have a lawyer that knows Elder Law they would be the ones that would know the "in's and out's" of the insane IRS system.